E-Commerce Talks at WTO Seeking Results on Text Proposals By 2024
Japan, Australia and Singapore, co-conveners of the e-commerce talks at the World Trade Organization, recently urged delegates to consider how the initiative can achieve results by the end of the year, the WTO said June 22. Facilitators of small group discussions noted progress on finding "landing zones on text proposals in areas such as cryptography, source code, privacy, 'single windows,' telecommunications, and data flows and data localisation," the WTO said. Other sessions held at the meeting included talks on general and security exceptions, digital inclusion and development and implementation.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
"We fully recognize there is a wide range of interests and concerns among members on these issues," said Japan's Kazuyuki Yamazaki. "However, I believe one of the virtues of the WTO is a broader membership. I would always encourage our members to endeavour to obtain a sense of commonalities that accommodates the different circumstances of the members.” Four more rounds of talks are planned, with the next negotiations set for July 26-28.